Heidi Heckelbeck and the Wacky Tacky Spirit Week

by Wanda Coven

  “Your mom called us over so we could plan our outfits for Wacky Tacky Day with you!” Lucy said.

  Bruce nodded. “And she had a really awesome idea!”

  Heidi heard a loud clatter and turned to see Mom rolling an old trunk up to the table.

  “Behold!” Mom said, running a hand along the top of the trunk, like it was a fabulous prize. “This trunk has my clothes from when I was your age. And everything in here is guaranteed to be wacky, tacky, and totally outdated.”

  Lucy and Bruce watched Heidi to see what she thought.

  Heidi scratched her head and thought for a moment.

  Maybe if they all dressed tacky together, then it wouldn’t be so bad.

  “Okay, I’m in,” she said.

  “YAY!” Lucy and Bruce shouted at the same time.

  After dinner the kids tried on everything in the trunk.

  “Wow, you sure dressed weird back then!” Heidi said.

  Mom swiped Heidi with a rainbow leg warmer. “Yes, but remember, yesterday’s fashion is today’s wacky tacky!”

  Then the three best friends modeled their wild outfits for Heidi’s family.

  QUEEN OF TACKY!

  Heidi’s mom drove the wacky tacky threesome to school in the morning. As the car inched slowly toward the drop-off area, Heidi saw the other outfits. Kids wore frumpy grandma dresses, big bow ties—one kid even had the tallest platform shoes ever.

  Mom pulled up to the curb.

  “Ready, my fellow wackadoodles?” Heidi called out as she grabbed the door handle.

  “Ready!” Lucy and Bruce cried.

  They opened the door and hopped onto the sidewalk. Heads began to turn.

  “Look at THEM!” cried Stanley, pointing.

  Heidi, Lucy, and Bruce stood side by side in a silly pose. Heidi had on a headband with floppy flower antennae. She wore a dark pink tutu and mismatched shoes on her feet—a high top and a rubber boot.

  Lucy stood with her hands on her hips. She had on a dress with a flower-print shirt and mismatched leggings. Around her waist she wore two belts.

  Bruce stood like a pretzel rod. He had on plaid shorts, a bow tie, and a life-size fish necklace. He topped off his look with a googly-eyed, fang-faced ball cap.

  Nobody looked wackier or tackier than Heidi, Lucy, and Bruce—that is, until Principal Pennypacker twirled across the playground. He had on a pair of grown-up footie pajamas with panda bears on them!

  He tippy-toed and spun all the way up the stairs to the entrance. Then he stopped and waved to Heidi and her friends.

  “Love your outfits!” he called. Then he extended one leg behind him and pointed his toes. He hopped through the door on his other foot. Heidi and her friends cheered loudly. Nobody had more school spirit than Principal Pennypacker.

  Later in the classroom, Heidi almost fell out of her chair when she saw Melanie. She had not dressed up at all!

  Melanie took one look at Heidi and covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “Wow, Heidi, I always KNEW you were wacky tacky, but this outfit is the wacky tackiest!”

  Before Heidi could say anything, Melanie flipped her hair and continued. “You won this school spirit day by a mile, Heidi Heckelbeck. But that’s only because I chose NOT to dress up. You want to know why?”

  Heidi rolled her eyes. No, she thought.

  Melanie’s smile dropped. “Because there is NOTHING cool about looking tacky. And, by the way, it kind of looks like you’re trying too hard to stand out.”

  Heidi folded her arms. “That’s the whole entire point,” she shot back.

  Then Mrs. Welli, who was wearing a patchwork skirt and flowered shirt, asked the class to quiet down. Melanie raised her hand, and Mrs. Welli called on her.

  “I have a special announcement,” Melanie began. “As everyone knows, being tacky is really NOT my thing at all, unlike some people in this class. But stay tuned tomorrow for my winning superhero costume. Oh, and congratulations on being the Queen of Tackiness, Heidi! It’s SO YOU.”

  Heidi sank down low in her chair and muttered under her breath, “Winning superhero costume, huh? We’ll see what the Book of Spells has to say about THAT!”

  SPELL POWER

  That night Heidi was upset. Luckily, Henry made her laugh with a story about getting his funky scarf caught in the toilet at school.

  After dinner Heidi slipped her Book of Spells out. She found a superhero spell and read it over.

  Finding the Superhero Within

  Have you ever had to deal with a villain? Then perhaps you may have wished you had a superpower to handle the villain? Well, search no further! If you’d like to unlock your inner superhero, then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  1 page from your diary

  1 piece of felt

  1 brand-new Band-Aid

  1 glass of milk

  Gather the ingredients and mix them together in a bowl. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand and use your other to cover the mix. Chant the following words:

  Alakazam! And Alakazoo!

  Bring forth the power that’s SUPER in YOU!

  Heidi gathered the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stirred them together. She held her medallion in one hand and covered the mix with the other. Then she chanted the spell.

  Heidi waited for the magic to work. But the only thing she felt was tired. I’ll get ready for bed now, she thought. Then the spell can take hold while I’m sleeping.

  Heidi put on her pajamas, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and climbed into bed. As she drifted off to sleep she wondered what her superpower would be. Maybe I’ll be able to FLY? Or what if I’m able to talk to animals and help missing pets find their way home. . . .

  SUPER HEIDI

  Heidi’s eyes blinked open. Today I get to find out my SUPERPOWER! She threw back her covers and leaped out of bed with her arms spread out like a bird.

  Thwump! She crash-landed on her carpet.

  “Guess I can’t fly.” Then she hopped up and ran to her mirror.

  “Hmm, what if my superpower is INVISIBILITY?” Heidi squeezed her eyes shut and tried to disappear. When she opened her eyes, there she was, staring back at herself in the mirror.

  “Maybe breakfast will help,” she said to herself. She hurried downstairs to the kitchen and poured a bowl of cereal.

  Then, when no one was looking, Heidi reached down and grabbed the leg of the kitchen table and tried to lift it. Ooomph!

  The table wouldn’t budge.

  Heidi began to think her superhero spell was a super dud. She trudged back to her room to get dressed. When she opened her closet, she jumped back. Hanging up was a real superhero suit.

  Heidi pulled it down and laid the suit on her bed. It had a shimmery blue bodice with a gold letter H on the front. It also had sparkly red belt and a red satin cape with gold trim. It even came with a black eye mask and long black gloves.

  Heidi quickly changed into her costume. Then she looked at herself in the mirror and squealed.

  “Look out, Melanie!” she cried. “SUPER HEIDI is here to save the day!”

  SUPER DAY

  On Thursday, the Brewster Elementary playground looked like a superhero fashion show.

  Bruce was dressed as Atom Boy. He had Styrofoam balls sticking out on all sides of his costume. Heidi noticed some of his atoms were falling off. She ran over to pick them up, and she stuck them back onto his costume.

  Bruce sighed. “You’re a lifesaver, Heidi. Usually my inventions hold up better than this.”

  Heidi stuck one more ball onto his suit. “You just needed someone to fasten the ones on the back!”

  They high-fived.

  Across the playground, Heidi saw Lucy. She wore a purple leotard, lavender tights, and a lavender cape that was definitely dragging on the ground.

  Lucy stumbled on it, and Heidi zoomed over, faster than fast, to help her friend.

  “Are you okay?” Heidi asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Luc
y said. “I keep tripping over this silly cape. I don’t know what’s going on. It fit perfectly when I tried it on last night.”

  Heidi inspected Lucy’s superhero outfit.

  “Here!” she said. “The stitching has come undone.”

  Lucy hung her head. “Now I’m doomed to trip and fall ALL day!”

  Hmm, Heidi thought. “I’ve got an idea. To the art room!”

  Once there, Heidi found a pair of scissors. “Would you like me to trim the bottom of your cape so you won’t trip over it?”

  Lucy clapped her hands. “I would LOVE that!” she said.

  Heidi measured and carefully cut a little bit of the bottom off Lucy’s cape.

  Lucy danced around when Heidi was done. “It’s perfect, Heidi! You’re my hero!”

  Suddenly, Principal Pennypacker knocked on the art room door. “Hello, girls,” he said in a high-pitched voice that didn’t sound like him at all. And it wasn’t him! It was Melanie. She was dressed up exactly like Principal Pennypacker!

  Heidi cupped both of her hands over her mouth. “Wow, Melanie!” she exclaimed. “That truly is the perfect superhero idea!”

  Melanie patted her bald wig, which had tufts of hair on either side. “Thanks,” she said. “I love YOUR costume too.”

  The girls smiled at each other—real smiles.

  A warm feeling whooshed over Heidi, and all at once she knew what her inner superpower was. And she wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

  She continued to help people all day long. She fed the class guinea pig.

  She watered the class plants. She even stacked the chairs at the end of the day.

  “Thank you, Heidi. You’re the most kind and helpful student I have!” Mrs. Welli said. “To return the favor, I would like to donate a dollar for every lap you finish tomorrow at the Fund Run.”

  Heidi beamed. She thanked Mrs. Welli and then skipped all the way to the bus. This had been a wild, wacky week for Super Heidi, but she had learned an important lesson. It only takes kindness to shine a light through the darkness. And Heidi felt brighter than ever.

  Keep reading for a preview of

  Heidi Heckelbeck Takes the Cake

  by

  Wanda Coven

  Heidi Heckelbeck was the busiest girl on the planet. Dad called her Lil’ Miss Busy Bee.

  On Monday, Heidi had swim practice with her team, the Little Mermaids. They worked on the butterfly stroke.

  On Tuesday, she had Young Rembrandts. It was an after-school art class with Mr. Doodlebee. The class had been working on a giant aquarium collage. Heidi made a pink neon jellyfish from paper plates, paint, and yarn.

  On Wednesday, Aunt Trudy took Heidi to the Fine Arts Museum. They got to see all kinds of original art, from paintings to sculptures to videos to stuff that Heidi couldn’t describe.

  Heidi’s math tutor came over on Thursday—that’s because Heidi needed help with word problems, especially the ones with fractions.

  And, of course, Friday night was Movie Night at the Heckelbeck house. They watched Henry’s favorite movie for the fifth time. Not that Heidi was counting.

  Saturday morning was all about the swim meet. The Little Mermaids crushed the Aqua Maidens in freestyle and breaststroke.

  Then, on Saturday afternoon, Heidi discovered she had accidentally booked two playdates for the same day!

  Continue Reading…

  Heidi Heckelbeck Takes the Cake

  Wanda Coven

  About the Author and Illustrator

  WANDA COVEN has always loved magic. When she was little, she used to make secret potions from smooshed shells and acorns. Then she would pretend to transport herself and her friends to enchanted places. Now she’s able to visit other worlds through writing. Wanda lives in San Jose, California, with her husband and son. They have three cats: Hilda, Agnes, and Claw-dia.

  PRISCILLA BURRIS has illustrated numerous books and materials for children, parents, and teachers. She enjoys painting cakes and creating art for products, which include murals, greeting cards, and rubber stamps! Priscilla lives with her family in Southern California.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Wanda-Coven

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Priscilla-Burris

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  HeidiHeckelbeckBooks.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

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  First Little Simon hardcover edition September 2019

  Copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Designed by Ciara Gay

  Jacket design by Ciara Gay

  Jacket illustrations by Priscilla Burris

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Coven, Wanda, author. | Burris, Priscilla, illustrator.

  Title: Heidi Heckelbeck and the wacky tacky Spirit Week / by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris.

  Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2019. | Series: Heidi Heckelbeck ; [27] | Summary: Everything Heidi tries to do for Spirit Week at school seems to be wrong, at least according to her nemesis, Melanie, until a spell helps her find her superpower on Super Hero Thursday.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018052799 | ISBN 9781534446359 (pbk) | ISBN 9781534446366 (hc) | ISBN 9781534446373 (eBook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Schools—Fiction. | Conduct of life—Fiction. | Witches—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.C83393 Hbv 2019 | DDC [Fic] —dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018052799